Page 7 of One More Yule Log
They chattered all the way home, and he wished he could pick her up every day. He loved telling her stories about Dale, helping her remember what she could.
Now he was cleaning the kitchen. Liv was dusting the front room and straightening up the couch cushions. All he had left to do after this was scrub the powder room.
It didn’t take much in the kitchen. A swipe here and shine there. He’d been so proud to be in this house when Dale had married him—a huge, lit-up floor-to-ceiling A-frame that was mostly windows and wood. Now he barely saw it, and Fran did a lot of the cleaning. She said it worked for her; she was retired, and he paid her for her time, but Ben still felt guilty. He really wanted to be all things, which was ridiculous, but there it was.
“What do you think, Liv? Good enough to bake in?”
“It’s lovely, Daddy. We’re going to have fun. Are you going to be in your office? Because you can’t come out and ruin my lesson.” She waved the feather duster at him sternly.
“I’ll be right here in the office. Door open so you can call me if you need me.”
“Okay. Gray is a good person.” So smart. She always read him and knew what he worried about.
“I know, but Aunt Fran has been with you before. I just want you to feel safe.”
“Daddy! Gray is like you. He likes boys. I heard Alice teasing him about it.” She returned to the kitchen, where she started digging out bowls and jelly roll pans, tongue stuck in the side of her cheek.
“Does he?” Oh that didn’t help his little quiet fantasy about Gorgeous Gray. In fact, it amped up the daydream to wind-machine-and-fake-smoke-around-a-big-bed status.
“Uh-huh. She said he needed to get out more and meet a nice man. You’re a nice man, right, Daddy?”
“I am the nicest manever, thank you!” He winked at her before grabbing her up for a quick hug.
“Well, there!” She pulled back, staring at the cabinets as if they’d offended her. “Can you get the flour and sugar?”
“You know, if you’re going to start baking regularly, we can move them lower.”
She wasn’t tall for her age, but she wasn’t tiny, and he thought she’d catch up with everyone soon. She had a little step stool she used to cook, but pulling down canisters was probably more than she needed to try. He grabbed them down for her.
“Okay, princess, gonna go give the bathroom a scrub.”
“Auntie Fran did that before she left.” She put her little tablet stand on the counter just so.
“Oh, she rocks. Are there any cookies? I need a little nibble.”
“If you didn’t skip breakfast you wouldn’t get so hungry in the afternoons.”
“Yes, little mother. I still want a cookie.”
“There are Oreos in the cabinet above the fridge. Aunty Fran keeps hiding them from me because she forgets I don’t like them.”
“Nope. You like Chips Ahoy and those Girl Scout ones with the coconut.”
“Yes! And Nutter Butters.”
“I know. We should see if we can get them from the store this weekend.” After Friday, Liv was out of school, and he was working from home until she went back. Thank God. “Are you looking forward to winter break?”
“I am. I like to be home when it snows, and Mr. Lilly says we’ll have a white Christmas.” She watched him eat a handful of cookies, smiling gently at him. She really was a little protector.
“I think you’re right.” They might even have a white weekend, if the weather was right.
Snow in Aspen and up on Sunlight was good for business, so let it come. He had a four-wheel drive, and years in Colorado had taught him to drive in the snow pretty well. Not bad for a Texan who thought he would die his first winter at college.
The doorbell rang, and Ben was glad he hadn’t had to do the powder room.
“Okay, Daddy. Shoo.” She waved him off, making the go-away motion with her hands.
“Hey, I get to say hi to Gray.” Ben grabbed her up in his arms when she tried to run by him so he could answer the door.
